Franklin v. Hudspeth
Franklin v. Hudspeth
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
This is an original proceeding in habeas corpus. The petitioner was charged with larceny of an automobile under the provisions of G. S. 1935, 21-533, and pursuant to his plea of guilty was convicted and sentenced to not less than five nor more than fifteen years in accordance with the provisions of G. S. 1935, 21-534. He was committed to confinement in the state penitentiary by the district court of Montgomery county on September 6, 1941.
Giving his petition the most liberal interpretation possible it would appear the petitioner seeks his release on the following alleged grounds:
(1) He was prosecuted and convicted pursuant to an information rather than an indictment of a grand jury.
(2) He was denied the right to a fair and impartial trial.
(3) He was coerced to enter his plea of guilty on the same day the information was filed.
(4) The information under which he was charged does not contain the statute number of the alleged offense.
(5) The journal entry does not contain the statute under which he was sentenced.
(6) The clerk of the penitentiary postdated the sentence from September 6, 1941, to February 1, 1947.
The first ground is without merit. Touching the second ground
On October 8, 1948, the date the instant case was orally argued before this court, we were advised petitioner had filed an unverified amended petition for a writ on October 4, 1948, in which it was, in substance, charged the nunc pro■ tunc order, previously mentioned, constituted a conspiracy to defeat the petition for the writ; that petitioner had filed a motion in the district court of Montgomery county asking that a subpoena be issued to him to; obtain his presence at the hearing for a nunc pro tunc order,, that counsel be appointed to represent him at such hearing and that both of such motions were overruled; that the transcript of the proceedings in the district court show petitioner was sentenced under the provisions of G. S. 1935, 21-533, and not under the provisions of G. S'. 1935, 21-534.
G. S. 1935, 21-533, merely makes the theft of an automobile grand larceny. It does not attempt to fix the penalty for that offense. The penalty is fixed by the next statute. (G. S. 1935, 21-534.) Petitioner clearly is in error with respect to the statute under which sentence actually had been imposed. The general allegation that the nunc pro tunc order constituted a conspiracy to defeat the instant proceeding is a mere conclusion and is refuted by the record.
We have recently held that a .defendant’s presence at a hearing to’ complete a journal entry so as to include the statute under which he was sentenced is not necessary. (Wilson v. Hudspeth, 165 Kan. 666, 669, 198 P. 2d 165.) In the instant case petitioner was present in person at the time he was sentenced. He rejected the offer of the court to appoint counsel for him who would have been present at all proceedings including the day of sentence. No new or different sentence was imposed by virtue of the nunc pro tuna order. That order merely completed the journal entry of judgment by making it disclose what was actually done on the day of sentence at which the petitioner was present, without counsel, because he had rejected the appointment of counsel.
The writ is denied.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Harley Ray Franklin v. R. H. Hudspeth, Warden of the Kansas State Penitentiary
- Status
- Published